What did Calhoun teach that Hurley isn't teaching (re: fouls)? | The Boneyard

What did Calhoun teach that Hurley isn't teaching (re: fouls)?

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Calhoun's teams were so good at playing D without fouling. This year's team may be the worst I've ever seen when it comes to that. The fouls are ridiculous and make the games almost unbearable. What was Calhoun's secret, and why can't Danny figure it out?
 

SubbaBub

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Know your role.

Know what you can and can't do reliably and act that way.

Give it to the star and don't do anything stupid.

Follow the gameplan, there always was one.
 
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Is there actual evidence this was true for Calhoun's teams compared to other teams of the time? I remember a lot of fouls some games. Especially those years when I was young and they were pressing so much.

Putting Carlton/Adama in the high PnR leads to a lot of fouls by guard and the bigs... too much catch-up ball.

Not ever playing a zone.

I think we've also got a lot of pieces that either aren't athletic enough, or are new to learning how to play really intense pressure defense... new skills take time to develop.

Hand-check rules have changed. Packline-type defenses are popular for a reason. Seems like ICE based defenses are middle-ground to avoid fouling a lot of coaches are using these days. Texas Tech and Baylor and Illinois come to mind.
 
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Pushing the ball. That's probably the most obvious. In particular with Bouk out. A Calhoun team with limited scoring options would of pushed, pushed, pushed.

I'm loving Hurley. Team is steadily getting better. Not sure what else we'd want as fans
 
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In the 2000s we just had way better athletes than everyone else. Playing field is a lot more level on that front these days (everyone has access to better strength and conditioning, etc.)

The high hedge if your opponent figures it out can lead to some disadvantageous situations which are more prone to fouling. I still think it sets the right tone and takes other teams out of their primary actions, so I like it.

It's going to be a lot better in the tournament in the 2nd round or whatever when teams have had very little time to prepare for it.
 

polycom

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The 2010 team was 4 fouls a game better than this team 2004 team was also 4 fouls better than this team. So certainly better but we also play a completely different style of defense and refs likely called games differently than v. now. I'd def want to look stats for other teams.
 
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Putting Carlton/Adama in the high PnR leads to a lot of fouls by guard and the bigs... too much catch-up ball.
I still don't understand what that strategy accomplishes. Can someone explain that to me? If it's supposed to get the other team to turn the ball over, then well it doesn't work. If I see Sanogo or Carlton 30 feet from the basket again double teaming and a guy wide open hit a shot I'm going to jump through the TV.
 

dennismenace

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In the 2000s we just had way better athletes than everyone else. Playing field is a lot more level on that front these days (everyone has access to better strength and conditioning, etc.)

The high hedge if your opponent figures it out can lead to some disadvantageous situations which are more prone to fouling. I still think it sets the right tone and takes other teams out of their primary actions, so I like it.

It's going to be a lot better in the tournament in the 2nd round or whatever when teams have had very little time to prepare for it.
I think the Dr. Kramer/Jerry Martin with Calhoun made a very formidable combination of teamwork to get the best out of our athletes. Looking forward to our new S + C coach work with this team and the incoming recruits. Keep in mind what it used to be like to play against Cincy. I haven't felt this good watching them in so long that I feel at times like I am back in the days of the old Big East with the brightest of futures ahead of us. Great win today.
 

polycom

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I still don't understand what that strategy accomplishes. Can someone explain that to me? If it's supposed to get the other team to turn the ball over, then well it doesn't work. If I see Sanogo or Carlton 30 feet from the basket again double teaming and a guy wide open hit a shot I'm going to jump through the TV.

It's suppose to be a hard hedge it's supposed to stop the ball handler from getting downhill off the pick and roll and force the play to be "strung out" Issue is that carlton and sanogo aren't athletic enough to stop the over the top pass or the reverse dribble.
 
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It's suppose to be a hard hedge it's supposed to stop the ball handler from getting downhill off the pick and roll and force the play to be "strung out" Issue is that carlton and sanogo aren't athletic enough to stop the over the top pass or the reverse dribble.
Yeah Sanogo will often wall well, but then he leaves the ball handler to return to his man before the primary defender has returned, so the guy can throw a pass to his man, which while our D has rotated in position usually and Sanogo is coming to double, is still a mismatch (think Jackson on their center).
 
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JC worked the refs like no other. He put the fear of God in any referee that thought about calling a borderline foul against his men. We were spoiled then.
Stop expecting the Hurley era to be the same as the JC era.
 
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Some people can never be satisfied...

Horrible officiating
I don't think its that. I'm sure everybody is very happy with a convincing win against a team that just handled North Carolina (not that they're a juggernaut but you get my point). That doesn't mean there aren't some yellow flags. The fouling has been an issue pretty much all season and I don't expect it to change at this point. I sure wouldn't want them to dial back the aggression but if they could just make better decisions about when to risk fouling. I want to see Whaley and Sanogo use their fouls challenging shots near the rim not reaching in on a 6' guard 40 feet from the basket. Chance of success, almost zero. Chance of getting a ticky-tack foul? High. So many of the fouls seem to be outside the 3-point line and away from the ball. Maybe that's an inaccurate perception but I find myself gritting my teeth about it most games.

To close on a positive note, they chalked up 5 turnovers in the first five minutes. Not good. Hurley pulled Cole to let him gather his thoughts and they only turned it over 2 times over the final 35 minutes. That is exemplary.
 
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This has nothing to do with Calhoun vs Hurley. The refs are determined to call ticky tack fouls that ruin the pace of the game these days. We were hit with way more of them than Marquette was today. Their bigs were bumping us all game but those did not count. Sanogo has a bad habit getting his arms on players he is defending.
 

WeAreUCONN

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Calhoun's teams were so good at playing D without fouling. This year's team may be the worst I've ever seen when it comes to that. The fouls are ridiculous and make the games almost unbearable. What was Calhoun's secret, and why can't Danny figure it out?
Calhoun taught fear. Fear that you would be benched if you didn’t do what he told you to do.
 
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I don't think its that. I'm sure everybody is very happy with a convincing win against a team that just handled North Carolina (not that they're a juggernaut but you get my point). That doesn't mean there aren't some yellow flags. The fouling has been an issue pretty much all season and I don't expect it to change at this point. I sure wouldn't want them to dial back the aggression but if they could just make better decisions about when to risk fouling. I want to see Whaley and Sanogo use their fouls challenging shots near the rim not reaching in on a 6' guard 40 feet from the basket. Chance of success, almost zero. Chance of getting a ticky-tack foul? High. So many of the fouls seem to be outside the 3-point line and away from the ball. Maybe that's an inaccurate perception but I find myself gritting my teeth about it most games.

To close on a positive note, they chalked up 5 turnovers in the first five minutes. Not good. Hurley pulled Cole to let him gather his thoughts and they only turned it over 2 times over the final 35 minutes. That is exemplary.
Good thing air balls don’t count as turnovers.
 

UConnSwag11

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You can guarantee by the 12 minute mark in both halves the opposing team will be in the bonus +/- 1 foul. That’s an issue that needs to be addressed if we want to beat the better teams and make a run. A lot of the fouls are reaching in by the almost all the players or away from the basket by the bigs. A lot are iffy calls but the refs seem to be calling them rather than letting them play. I don’t mind fouls when rebounding or going for a block
 

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